Operation Percabeth
by Phoebe Dillard
Summary: When Silena Beauregard sets her mind to something, she gets it done. With 2 months before the possible end of the world, she sets her sights on Percy and Annabeth, the couple of the millennia as said by her mother Aphrodite. After BOTL Before TLO (UNEDITED)
1. Chapter 1

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 1**

Camp Half-Blood has been a safe haven for demigods of all ages for centuries. None the less, even the protective border that surrounds the camp couldn't repel the desolate attitude that the impending war against the Titans brought about the campers.

Usually bustling with chatter and laughter, the strawberry fields were now so quiet the only sound that could be heard is the snap of a strawberry separating from its stem, and the noise it made as it was placed in a basket. In the dining pavilion, the demigods spoke in hushed whispers keeping mostly to themselves unlike their normal uproarious behavior.

Everyone was on edge knowing that an attack could happen at any moment. Their days were spent training for battle and coming up with/ learning new battle strategies, courtesy of the Athena Cabin. The camp no longer had the summer camp vibe it had been giving off previously.

This evening however, a secret meeting was being held at Zeus's Fist over a matter that's been plaguing the minds of some campers for years. Because what better time is there to resolve issues than two months before what might be the end of the world as we know it…

"Would you all be so kind and shut your damn mouths!" Silena Beauregard screamed in frustration from the top of a gigantic pile of rocks, also known as Zeus's Fist. The group of half-bloods surrounding the daughter of Aphrodite quieted down immediately and gave her their undivided attention.

"Thank you," She grumbled sarcastically. "Now I assume you are all wondering why I called this meeting today and I promise that you're going to want to be listening to what I have to say."

Conner Stoll glanced at his brother Travis and then raised an eyebrow at Silena. "Why do I have a feeling that I really won't care at all?" His comment gained a few chuckles from the crowd and nod of agreement from Travis.

Silena realized she'd have to get straight to the point before she lost the attention of the ADHD teenagers. "Alright so as we're all painfully aware of, Percy Jackson's 16th birthday is about 2 months away. He's accomplished some great things over the 4 years I've known him and he might even go on to be the greatest hero Olympus has ever seen. That being said, he is still the most oblivious person I've ever met," she finished sounding exasperated.

In the front of the crowd, Grover nodded his head in agreement. "True that," he mumbled to himself. Silena smiled at him and got ready to finish speaking.

"Okay so that punk Kelp Head is oblivious. We already knew that what's your point?" Clarisse La Rue questioned crossing her arms across her chest with a passive smirk on her face.

Silena took a look around and thought about how she was going to phrase the next part of her speech. Everyone knew that she had a way of getting want she wanted done but this was different. In order for this idea of hers to work she needed the help of others.

This may be the last time she ever got to meddle in anyone's love life. All the other times seemed like training for this master plan of hers. Aphrodite herself endorsed the idea.

Silena's years as the Aphrodite Cabin's head counselor taught her how to get people to follow her lead. It was time to put all of her experience to the test. She looked up and took a deep breath putting up a confident façade.

"As a daughter of Aphrodite I'm naturally perceptive to the chemistry a person has with their true love. The problem is not everyone is able to see it, even when it's right in front of them. Sometimes they just need, you know, a push in the right direction."

Grover looked at Silena with a look of knowing and horror. "No! No way, Silena we've talked about this before just let them work it out on their own terms. Please I beg you!"

"Them? Grover who is she talking about?" Katie Gardner inquired. She looked at Grover with a confused expression in which he replied with a nervous _bleat_. Meanwhile, Silena's eyes glistened with a mischievous glow.

"I'm getting there and if you guys would stop interrupting me, maybe you'd find out," Silena spoke giving Grover and Katie a pointed look. "Like I said before Percy Jackson is the most oblivious person I ever met and he needs our help. As much as we all like to deny it, in two months we could all be dead so it's now or never. It's time to enact my plan, to get Percy and Annabeth together."

The group of demigods gaped at her while Grover face palmed, shaking his head in disappointment. Silena's grin started to fade when she saw the reactions of her friends.

"Woah, guys calm down this is a secret meeting after all," Silena grumbled sarcastically. She twiddled her thumbs together nervously. This wasn't at all the reaction she was expecting nor hoping for. Her eyes moved back and forth across the crowd.

Silena had a feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. She recognized it as the feeling you get when you're witnessing your own dream die right in front of you.

Suddenly she broke the deafening silence. "Okay Travis, Conner, Katie, Grover, Will, Malcolm, Charlie, and Clarisse, you guys stay. Everyone else you're free to go." The expended people made their way into the forest back to the cabins, leaving the reaming group alone. Once again, Silena's eyes scanned the crowd for any positive emotion. She was also, once again disappointed when she didn't come across any.

"Silena, babe, it's not that we don't want Percy and Annabeth together, it's just…" Charles Beckendorf trailed off not knowing exactly where he was going with his statement.

"It's just that Percy and Annabeth are, how do I put this, hard core," Malcolm explained, helping out Beckendorf. "I mean they've both held up the weight of the sky and Percy blew up a Mount St. Helen's for gods sake. If either of them found out we were interfering with their personal lives, well I don't even want to find out what they'd do."

Everyone nodded with agreement. Silena had to admit that Malcolm did have a point, no one in their right mind would want to be on the opposing side of Percy or Annabeth. That however, still didn't change her stance. She was determined to get these demigods to help her with her plan, even if it was the last thing she ever did. Which for all she knew, it might be.

The wind blew rustling the leaves in the forest. Silena looked at the horizon and saw that the sun was setting. She needed to settle this before the Harpys come out at curfew.

"Look I get what you're saying but this could it for them and they're obviously dying to be together. They just need to admit it. All that's on Annabeth's mind is training and battle plans. Percy's probably stressing over the fact that the entire existence of the human race rests on his shoulders. We need to somehow distract them from those problems, then introduce the idea of them as a couple to each other so they'll ponder it on their own time," Silena explained like it was the easiest thing ever.

"That doesn't seem too difficult," Will Solace piped up, starting to get on board with Silena's plan. Everyone but Malcolm and Grover nodded in response.

"Look as a child of Athena like Annabeth, I'm going to tell you straight up that she analyzes every little thing. If we're going to do this we need to be as discreet as possible," Malcolm spoke up.

Conner and Travis Stoll glanced at each other and smirked. "Oh we can be discreet," they both declared simultaneously. Since they are children of Hermes, no one doubted them for even a second. Plus they've all seen the kind a pranks they pull, even if it was hard to admit, everyone knew they had skill in the art of deception.

"I've known Percy and Annabeth the longest so I like to think that I know each of them pretty well," Grover started. "With the impending war, they're both going to be on edge so I agree that we need to keep all of this on the down low. Also, I have an empathy link with Percy so I can tell you he is very guarded but not as guarded as Annabeth is. She's worried about wounding her pride so she doesn't like to open herself up to other people. That's going to be an issue because she's not going to want to talk about her personal life or problems," he pointed out.

"You know what, we can solve that when we get there. Right now I just need to know if you guys are on board with my plan," Silena inquired. Smiling to herself, Silena stepped down from the top of Zeus's fist to where the group of half-bloods were standing. She awaited their responses eagerly.

Travis and Conner spoke first. "We're in."

"I'll help too," Katie chirped grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Malcolm, Grover, Will, and Clarisse shared a look between each other and begrudgingly shook their heads yes. Silena yelped in excitement.

"Of course I'll help," Beckendorf replied giving his girlfriend a hug which Silena happily returned.

The friends all cheered and high-fived one another. They all knew it wasn't going to be an easy task getting these two love birds together, but the result would make all the struggle seem worth it.

"Thank you guys so much! Words can't describe how thankful I am for your help," Silena expressed, her gratitude showing. "I guess we should head back it's almost curfew."

The demigods all turned towards the forest and started making their way back to the cabins. Every one of them had a weapon in hand in case of an attack.

Suddenly, Will piped up from the back of the group with a question. "Hey Silena?"

"Yea!" She called back.

"You never did tell us what the name of this plan of yours is called."

Silena turned and grinned from ear to ear. "I decided to call it Operation Percabeth," She responded diligently as she turned back around and sauntered her way through the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 2**

The creaking of the Aphrodite Cabin door awoke Silena from her reverie. She glanced over to see Grover looking at her with nervous eyes. He hopped from foot to foot (or would it be hoof to hoof) and kept sneaking a peek outside.

"Chiron left the training arena, he's on his way. Are you sure want to go through with this Silena? You still have time to back out," Grover babbled with an anxious tone to his words.

Silena rolled her eyes and waved him off. "Yes Grover I'm sure. Now once Chiron leaves, wait a few minutes and meet me behind the Big House. Okay?"

He looked at her as he thought it over in his head. If Grover was being completely honest, he didn't realize how invested Silena was in Operation Percabeth until now.

"Yea I guess. It's not like I have much of a choice," Grover grumbled while playing with the hem of his shirt. "I'm going to ask you one more time are you sure you can do this?"

"Gods Grover I'm not totally incompetent I know to play sick now shoo!" She demanded. Grover let out a _bleat_ and rushed out the door almost as quickly as he came in.

When the door finally shut behind him, Silena quickly grabbed a heating pad and pushed it up against her forehead to give the illusion of a fever. Once she was satisfied with the temperature, she hid the heating pad underneath her pillow. Grabbing a glass of water from her bedside table, she flicked some drops onto her head to make it look like she was sweating.

She heard the sound of hooves approaching so Silena curled into the fetal position under her blankets and put on an expression of mild agony. Closing her eyes, she awaited the sound of the opening door as the sound of hooves grew louder and louder.

Slowly, the door to her cabin opened and Chiron entered in all of his centaur glory. Silena continued with her facade and opened one eye in his direction.

"What seems to be the matter child, your siblings told me you couldn't attend archery practice today because you were feeling quite under the weather," the centaur stated glancing over Silena with a raised eyebrow. "It seems they were telling truth you don't look to good."

Silena cleared her throat and let out a weak response. "I feel like I swallowed a pair of Hades' underwear, though I think my dad just sent me some bad chocolates," she murmured gesturing to a half-eaten box.

"I know this is a terrible thing to ask of you, but is there any way you could push through and train today? You know as well as I do that everyone needs to practice as much as possible." Chiron crossed his arms over his chest.

She took a deep breath and gave a convincing cough and sniffle. Silena looked at her mentor from under her eyelashes with a quiver of her lip. "If I'm being completely honest Chiron, which I am, I think it would be best if I just rest today and drink some nectar so I'll be 100% okay tomorrow."

"It's not ideal but if you think it would be beneficial then I guess I'll get out of your hair," Chiron spoke skeptically as he slowly started backing out of the cabin.

The floorboards creaked as he exited. When the door shut a breeze was created causing a poster of NSYNC to fall on the floor. Silena rose from her bed, throwing her duvet aside, and rushed to put on her favorite pair converse.

It was a big day for her, for a lot of people at the camp actually. If all went well in the years to come, everyone would sit around the campfire and reminisce about the great plan a genius daughter of Aphrodite came up with, to get the couple of the millennia together. Silena let out a happy sigh, tied up her dark wavy hair, and made her way to the door of her cabin.

As she opened the door, she cautiously took a look outside to make sure Chiron was out of sight. She was pleased to see he was nowhere to be seen so Silena stepped out of her cabin and made her way towards the Big House to meet Grover.

When Silena approached Grover he was talking to Will whilst using an insane amount of hand gestures. She came out from behind a tree into the line of sight of the boys. Will waved her over and she happily obliged.

"So Grover was just telling me about how you decided to play sick today to get Operation Percabeth started. I've gotta admit I didn't think you had it in ya Beauregard. Respect," Will smirked as he leaned his back against the wall of the Big House. His beach blonde hair glinted in the summer sun and his teeth were so bright she almost went blind

Meanwhile Grover scoffed at the idiocy of the people next to him. "Yea whatever sunshine I still think it was a risky move. If Chiron were to find out he'd give you and everyone involved dish duty for a week! I can't even fathom what Mr. D would do!"

"First of all I can assure you Mr. D wouldn't give a crap because all he cares about is Diet Coke." Silena started shooting a pointed look at Grover. "Secondly, if for some unlikely reason I do get caught, I wouldn't turn any of you in so calm yourself Underwood."

Will gave a nod of respect towards the brunette and stood up getting ready to head off towards the infirmary. "Well it seems like ya'll have everything under control so best of luck and I'll see you two later." He sauntered off with a wave.

Silena and Grover bid Will farewell and turned towards each other. Grover adjusted his Rasta cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. He looked Silena in the eye as she began to speak.

"So I think today we should start with what I mentioned yesterday. We need to introduce the idea to Percy of him and Annabeth being a couple."

"I thought you said you wanted to introduce the idea to both of them?"

"Yea that was the original plan but I have a feeling that Annabeth has already thought about it a lot. She's a daughter of Athena so she isn't as obtuse as Percy is."

Grover nodded in agreement. He pondered the way his best friends have been acting lately. At the beginning of the summer, things were weird between Percy and Annabeth. They'd been that way since they got back from the Labyrinth last year. Unlike Annabeth, Percy's emotions were laid out to him on a silver platter because of the empathy link Grover has with him. There's one thing for sure, Percy's emotions go haywire when Annabeth is near or even mentioned though he can't tell if they're positive or negative.

Something happened between the two of them and he was determined to figure out what it was. Silena was right about needing to resolve their problems. The world may ending soon so whatever issues they have with each other needs to be put to rest as soon as possible.

"Silena, what if I told you that I believe Percy has been thinking about Annabeth the same way?"

"Then I'd say that's great we can go ahead and plan our next move."

"But the thing is I'm not sure." Silena gave Grover a blank look. "I think our best bet as of now is to just talk to them separately and see where they're at individually. After, we can meet again with the… group? Is that what we're calling this a group?

She bit her lip in thought. "Nah I think we should call it taskforce. It sounds more professional."

"Alright then we can meet up again with the taskforce and plan what we should do next," Grover finished crossing his arms over his chest.

Silena squinted her eyes in concentration and started chewing her thumb nail. Grover did know Percy and Annabeth the best so he was probably right. Plus his plan was rock solid. "Grover are you sure you haven't meddled in people's lives before because you seem to have a knack for this stuff."

He let out a _bleat_ and nodded his head no. "I've never had a reason to until now, however I have to admit it's surprisingly fun."

She chuckled. "Okay so if all is settled I th-"

"One more thing Silena." Grover interrupted. "Did you notice how weird things have been between them since the Labyrinth fiasco last summer? "He received an 'are you serious, of course' expression from Silena.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

"Of course I have Grover I see and know all when it comes to romance. They're being weird because they probably realized that they have feelings for the other. That's bound to create some tension even if it's one sided which it's not."

"You see, the thing is I'm pretty sure something happened between them last summer. Either in the Labyrinth or before Annabeth left for her dad's house." Grover quipped a matter-of-factly.

"Care to elaborate," Silena gestured into the open.

"These two are stubborn as Hades so they wouldn't just magically get feelings for the other. It's not like them. I'm telling you that something happened between them that lead to them both realizing that they like one another."

Silena took a deep breath and sighed. "That's true. So now we have two objectives, get Percy and Annabeth together, and also find out what happened last summer. Sounds easy enough"

Silena was walking in the shadows around camp like Nico di Angelo once did as she looked for a certain daughter of Athena. She was having no luck at all but then she ran in Malcolm, Annabeth's brother.

"Hey Malcolm!" She whisper yelled as she put a hand on his shoulder. In return Malcolm turned around quickly while putting his hand on his knife. His eyes immediately scanned his surroundings for a threat but rested when he realized it was only Silena.

"Sweet mother of Aphrodite Silena you gave me quite a fright."

She rolled her in response and put a hand on her hip. "Do you always speak like you're a middle aged women from the 1800's? Who in gods name says 'you gave me quite a fright'. Come on man get a grip."

Malcolm smiled sheepishly. "Alright, alright I get it. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually yes I'm looking for Annabeth and I can't seem to find her anywhere. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Uh yea she's on the porch of the Athena Cabin." Malcolm gave her a strange look. "You didn't think to look at her cabin?"

Silena rubbed her hands together and smiled mischievously. "I'm playing sick so I can get the ball rolling on Operation Percabeth so I can't let Chiron or Mr. D see me."

"You really are invested in these two aren't you?"

"More than you even know. Now if you'll excuse me I have some meddling to do."

Silena waved goodbye to Malcolm as she jogged off towards the Cabin area. Stealthily, she made her way into the tree line and cautiously moved into position behind a tree. She peered into the Cabin area and spotted Annabeth sitting on the porch of the Athena Cabin just like Malcolm said.

Annabeth's eyes seemed transfixed on something. She had totally disregarded the laptop she had with her. Silena looked around her and didn't see Mr. D or Chiron so she made her way to the Athena Cabin.

As it turns out, Annabeth had all her attention on whatever it was she was staring at. Silena sat down next to her on the steps and the daughter of Athena didn't show any sign of acknowledging her presence. Silena focused her line of sight in the direction Annabeth was staring and wasn't very surprised to see she was watching Percy swordfight.

Could she be any more obvious?

"I never pegged you for the stalker type Annabeth," Silena piped up suddenly. In response Annabeth turned around on guard to fight but relaxed when she saw Silena.

"What do you mean stalker? I'm stalking anyone. I'm just typing up some battle strategies." Annabeth denied as she quickly went back to typing.

Silena scoffed at her. "So you're telling me that you haven't been ogling Percy from afar for the past 5 minutes." She raised an eyebrow.

Annabeth blushed and stopped typing as she looked Silena in the eye. "I wasn't ogling him per say as just admiring how much his swordsmanship has improved over the years."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not!" She denied. Then she tried to change to subject. "What are you doing here anyway Silena?" Annabeth grumbled as she went back to typing.

Silena simply ignored her and kept talking. "Why don't you just go talk to him? I'm sure he'd love to see you." She nudged her shoulder.

"What's that supposed to m-, you know what never mind I don't want to know." Annabeth trailed off. "He probably only wants to see Rachel anyway." She grumbled to herself.

"Rachel? That mortal girl? Why would he want to see her?" Silena questioned. Annabeth's eyes widened. Silena wasn't supposed to hear that.

"No reason just forget it." Annabeth waved it off.

"Oh my gods you're jealous of her!" Silena squealed in excitement.

Annabeth quickly tried to shush her up. "I am not! Now could you please be a little more quiet? I'm pretty sure the gods of Olympus could hear you."

Silena just threw her head back and laughed. "Oh girl you have it bad don't you." Silena remembered that yesterday Malcolm said everyone needed to be discreet because Annabeth would be to tell if something was up. Since Silena was a daughter of Aphrodite, it was pretty normal for her to bring this kind of stuff up so she decided that rule didn't apply to her.

"I do not! Where would you get such a crazy idea?" Annabeth hid her face in her hands in exasperation.

Silena patted her back soothingly. "Sweetie if you were to just admit it to yourself, I promise it will make things easier."

Annabeth groaned in response. "I can't like somebody. Not again. Gods I always choose to like the guy with an insane hero complex. Percy could die in 2 months Silena now isn't the right time to get involved in him."

"Aw, its okay Annabeth you're going to be fine. It's just a crush."

"Still." Annabeth replied looking up at Silena. Her stormy gray eyes looked vulnerable.

Silena scooted back a little bit so she could directly face Annabeth. She took a quick look around to see if Chiron or Mr. D were coming but they weren't. "I'm going to get you through this Annabeth. Now tell me what you like about Percy."

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know!" Annabeth replied exasperated.

"Do you like his hair?"

Annabeth twirled a piece of her curly blonde hair in thought then looked at Silena. "What, you mean those stupid soft raven black bangs you want to hide under like an umbrella on a rainy day? No. not really."

Silena bit her lip to repress a giggle but chose not to comment. "Okay what about his face?"

"Ugh gross! It's so stupidly good looking I want to slap it. I want to slap him. I just want to slap his hideous beautiful face!"

"You mean kiss right?"

Annabeth looked up startled as if Silena found out her biggest secret. She played it cool because Silena would not let her hear the end of it if she told her that she kissed Percy last summer in Mount St. Helens.

She looked into the distance at Percy who had just poured some water on himself to cool off and to regain some energy. He shook his hair to rid of excess water and his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt clung to his toned chest like a glove. Annabeth sighed and turned back to Silena. "No I meant slap."

Silena looked confused for a moment then spoke. "See don't you feel better now that you got to vent?"

Annabeth begrudgingly agreed by nodding her head slowly yes. "Yea thanks Silena that really helped." She paused for a moment and picked her nails nervously. "Look Silena could you please not mention this to anyone? I really don't want people knowing about, you know." She finished gesturing her hand in the direction of Percy.

"You have my word Annabeth." She sighed in relief

Silena looked over Annabeth's shoulder and looked at Percy. She wondered why it took Annabeth so long to realize her best friend had movie star good looks. The she saw Chiron come up to Percy and Silena realized she had to go before he saw her.

"Well it was wonderful talking with you Annabeth but I have to go so I'll see you around. Okay?"

Annabeth smiled and hugged Silena. "Yea see ya. Thanks again."

At that Silena rose from the front porch of the Athena Cabin and raced off into the tree line to find her taskforce. They had a lot to talk about.


	3. Chapter 3

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 3**

As a satyr, Grover was pretty much free to do whatever he pleased during the day. So unlike Silena, he didn't have to play sick in order to meddle. It was very easy for him to strike up a conversation with his target, Percy, without it seeming suspicious because they were best friends. Though before he got down and dirty into Operation Percabeth work, he decided to do some investigating into the secret of what happened between Percy and Annabeth last summer.

It seemed simple enough. Whatever happened took place after Percy and Annabeth separated from him and Tyson, and before Annabeth left camp for her dad's house. The issue was, he wasn't with them much during that time so he had to rely on eye witness accounts to put the puzzle together.

After he and Silena had their conversation behind the Big House, Grover made his way into the house and up to his sleeping quarters. He stepped into his room and shut the door behind him. His hooves clonked against the floor as he walked around his room trying to find a pen and paper.

Once he found what he was looking for Grover sat down on his bed and started thinking. He wrote down on his piece of paper the people he'd need to talk to solve the mystery. On another piece of paper he made a timeline of the events Percy filled him in on after the quest.

He decided to speak with Rachel Dare first, seeing as she was with Percy and Annabeth while he and Tyson were MIA. The easiest way to contact her would be Iris Message so Grover put his paper and pen in a drawer, stood up, and went to his closet to get his pouch where he kept his drachmas. Grover was disappointed to say the least when he realized the pouch was empty.

" _Di immortals_ ," he muttered to himself as he exited his room to hunt down the two people he knew would have drachmas. Travis and Conner Stoll. But first he emptied his pockets.

After searching for a good 10 minutes, Grover saw Travis and Conner speaking to Katie Gardner. Good, he thought to himself, if either Travis or Conner tried anything there would at least be a witness.

From his vantage point, he could see the cabin area in all its glory. This resulted in Grover spotting Silena talking to Annabeth and from what he could tell, the conversation must've been pretty embarrassing for Annabeth because her cheeks were flushed pink.

Grover approached the Demeter Cabin to see Katie in a heated argument with Travis. She was angrily waving her hedge clippers as she puffed her cheeks in frustration. Meanwhile Conner was just laughing and piping in every now and then to defend his brother.

"Travis! You can't just create chaos for entertainment! What if someone got hurt? You know we have this war coming up so maybe you spend less time initiating practical jokes and train so you don't get your as-"

"Woah there Green Giant," Travis chirped as he interrupted Katie's rant. "My bro here Conner and I were just trying to lighten the mood," He explained simply. Conner nodded in agreement, his brown hair flopping into his eyes.

Grover approached with caution as Katie and Travis continued arguing. Maybe after Operation Percabeth, he'd have to talk to Silena about an Operation Tratie. He chuckled to himself at his own lame joke, receiving the attention of Conner.

Conner took a stand next to Grover, leaned in close and whispered. "Just give them a few minutes, they'll calm down eventually. What do you need? How's Operation Percabeth coming along?"

"Actually, that's kind of the reason I'm here. You see, I nee-"Grover tried to explain but he was cut off by a high pitched yelp. He glanced up in time to see a pair of hedge clippers flying towards his face, effectively hitting him between the eyes, knocking him to the ground.

Grover had time to acknowledge how nicely the flowers were growing on the porch of the Demeter Cabin before the three demigod's worried faces overtook his vision. He gave out a weak _bleat_ , then passed out into a dream filled slumber.

 _Telekhines came pouring out of a broken door. From what Grover could tell they were in some sort of cave. He looked around and was surprised to see Percy and Annabeth behind a rock. He ran towards them and tried to tell them that they need to leave but they couldn't hear him. This was a dream. A very realistic one at that._

 _"_ _Put your cap back on," Percy said. "Get out!"_

 _"_ _What?" Annabeth shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you."_

 _"_ _I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider—maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."_

 _"_ _But you'll be killed!"_

 _"_ _I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."_

 _Grover has known Percy for years and he was still shocked by this act of selflessness. Apparently, Annabeth was thinking the same thing because she glared at Percy like she was going to punch him. Then she did something that surprised Grover even more. She kissed Percy._

 _"_ _Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She put on her hat and vanished. Percy looked confused for a moment then awoke and got ready to fight for his life. That's when Grover noticed they were surrounded by lava. It was in that moment he realized where he was. Mount St. Helens._

 _. "There!" one telekhine yelled. Then a whole group of them charged into the cavern. The rest was a blur for Grover. He watched as his best friend ran around fighting. Grover had heard the story of what happened. He knew what Percy was about to do. It pained him to watch but he couldn't tear his eyes away._

 _They threw more lava at Percy, and he screamed bloody murder. He crumpled to the metal floor. Then he stood up and put on an expression of extreme concentration, letting out a roar. His carefree sea green eyes looked murderous. The boy's raven black hair was scorched in some places just like his shirt._

 _Out of nowhere, the volcano started shaking violently. Grover merely watched from a corner in slight fear from his friend because out of shear willpower alone, he made the largest volcano in the continental United States erupt._

Grover awoke in the Camp Half-Blood infirmary with a pounding headache. Groaning slightly, he sat up in his bed and looked out the window with squinted his eyes. There, a white dove was perched on the window seal. The bird cocked its head to the right and looked right at Grover. It gave a quiet coo and squatted down ready to take flight. Grover swears to this day that the dove winked at him before it took flight, but maybe that was the minor concussion he had talking.

 _'_ He turned his attention back to his situation. The dream he had seemed more like a memory. It was very realistic, too realistic for a dream. Grover decided that he'd talk to Percy later and ask him again what happened in Mount St. Helens because now, Grover had a sneaking suspicion that he was hiding something. But there was no way Percy and Annabeth actually kissed. Right?

Suddenly the curtain surrounding his bed was pulled open as Will Solace walked in wearing his lab coat. If Grover didn't know that Will was a 14 year old boy, he would've mistaken him for an actual doctor. Will smiled when he saw that Grover was awake.

"I swear to Zeus Grover, I leave you alone for an hour and you manage to get a concussion from getting hit in the head with a hedge clippers. I expected more from you," He spoke jokingly.

Grover smiled sheepishly at Will as he continued talking. "So Mr. Underwood you do have a concussion but it's not at all serious so once you eat your ambrosia you'll be free to go." Will wrote some stuff down on his clip board then proceeded to get some ambrosia from a bag he had in his pocket, handing it to the satyr.

In between bites Grover piped up with a question. "Hey Will, how long was I out for?"

"Only about 3 hours so right now it is," he paused and checked his watch. "2:17 so you just missed lunch though I'm sure Chiron will let you get something."

Grover nodded in response though he probably wouldn't end up eating anything because he had no appetite what so ever. He continued to eat his ambrosia when he heard multiple pairs of footsteps.

The voices and footsteps got louder as the people got closer. Once he was able to clearly hear the voices it was obvious who they were.

"Oh Travis what if someone got hurt. I guess the tables have turned haha." Grover was able to recognize the mocking voice. It was T

Another voice responded diligently. "Shut it Travis, what I did was an accident. Maybe if you weren't being so obnoxious I wouldn't have gotten so mad. If I hadn't gotten so mad then my hand probably wouldn't have slipped from the darn hose!" Katie said her voice raising with every word.

"As funny as this situation is, you two need to calm down. This is the infirmary so shut up, people can't heal if they have to listen to you all's constant bickering." Grover guessed the third voice was Conner. Travis and Katie both grumbled an almost inaudible 'sorry'.

Once again the curtain surrounding Grover's bed opened and in entered Conner, Travis, and Katie. They all were pleasantly surprised to see that Grover had awoken.

"Alright so my work is done here. Grover you're free to go and you three, just keep it down." Will commanded. The young doctor finished writing on his clip board and left the area to check on other patients.

"Grover I'm so sorry I didn't mean to hit you! My hand just, slipped!" Katie apologized sounding worried. She walked over to Grover's bedside and hugged him. He gladly reciprocated.

"Don't worry about it Katie it's fine." He cooed

Conner spoke up from the back. "So Grover, before Katie knocked you out in all, you were asking about something. Can you remember what it was?"

All three pairs of eyes turned towards him. "I was gonna ask you and Travis for some drachmas because I needed to Iris Message Rachel Dare. You know Operation Percabeth business."

"Ah, I see," Travis winked.

Grover's expression turned into a perplexed one. "What?"

"You don't have to play dumb with us dude," Conner stated. "You were gonna find a way to get Rachel here to get Annabeth all jealous and stuff. Nice bro." He raised his hand for a fist bump which Grover stared at indignantly.

"What? No! Why would you- what would ma-," Grover sputtered trying to find his words. He didn't think about that but he didn't think Annabeth wasn't the jealous type. Then again, Grover wouldn't know because she's never had a reason to be jealous before now. "If you must know I needed to ask her some questions but I think I know the answer now." He responded finding his wording.

Katie looked at him strangely. "Well we're glad you're okay Grover and I bet Percy and Annabeth will be elated when we tell them you woke up. They both wanted to stay but they had to go back to training and planning you know. I guess that's one of the bad aspects of having a major role in a war."

Grover stood up and addressed the three demigods in front of him. "I need a favor from you guys."

"Sure what?" Travis shrugged his shoulders.

"I need you three to help Silena and I spread the word about another Operation Percabeth meeting tonight. Tell the whole taskforce that we're meeting at the same place same time. Okay?"

"You got it boss!" Conner mock saluted with his crooked smile.

"Battle stations!" Travis whisper yelled and ran to the exit of the infirmary with his brother not far behind. Katie and Grover merely rolled their eyes and proceeded to exit as well.

After visiting Grover in the infirmary, Percy decided he wouldn't be missed if he left Grover's bed side. Will told him and Annabeth that he'd be fine so they both left in order to finish the tasks that were assigned to them that day. They parted ways at the door, Percy to train and Annabeth to make battle plans.

Percy arrived at the arena and started slashing dummies. He tried his hardest to focus but his thoughts kept wandering. He knew that he could die in 2 months yet this was how he was spending his time. Some people might find it morbid that a 15 year old boy is so nonchalant facing his own mortality, but the minute you find out you're a demigod the possibility of death is a constant thing. The truth was, Percy wasn't afraid of death. Of course he didn't want to die but he knew what he was getting himself into.

He thought back to what Athena told him at Olympus on the Winter Solstice. She told him that in order to save a friend, he'd sacrifice the world. As much as it pained Percy to admit it, she was right. For example, last summer at Mount St. Helens, Percy almost killed himself to save Annabeth. He couldn't tell if that decision came from his hero complex or his impulsiveness. The recovery time was painful but blowing up that volcano was totally worth it. Plus it made for an awesome story.

Percy kept slashing and stabbing dummies but his heart wasn't into it. Sighing to himself he capped riptide and decided to take a trip to his favorite place in the camp. The beach.

Annabeth was in herM cabin frantically typing away at her laptop, just as she was this morning. The only difference was this time she wasn't being bombarded by Silena's questions. Her fingers cramped as she finished her last plan. She sighed in relief as she finally finished her work.

Pushing herself back from her desk, Annabeth stood up stretching in need of a well-deserved break. Now what, she thought. Looking to her right, her eyes rested upon her collection of architecture books. Now that she had free time, she could read them but if she was being completely honest her brain was fried. Even children of Athena need breaks from the intellectual aspects of life sometimes.

Having nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, Annabeth decided to go to a place at Camp Half-Blood that always calms her down. She exited her cabin and started walking towards the beach.

The waves lapped at Percy's feet as he watched the seagulls fly over Long Island Sound. One of the perks of being a son of Poseidon is that you can only get wet on will so his feet stayed dry. Percy's hand dug into the sand as nodded off into a relaxed state.

Suddenly he heard the crunch of footsteps on sand and turned around with his hand in his pocket, ready to grab Riptide. Instead of an axe murderer, Percy was pleasantly surprised to say the least to see Annabeth.

Her blonde hair hung past her shoulders and blew slightly with the direction of the sea breeze. Annabeth raised her hand a waved smiling. "Hey Seaweed Brain, fancy meeting you here."

"Yea because everyone knows I never come to the beach," He replied sarcastically. Annabeth rolled her eyes in response and sat down next to Percy. "So what brings you here Wise Girl?"

Annabeth bit her lip and played with the beads on her Camp Half-Blood necklace. After a moment of silence she replied. "I finished my work for the day and I came here to wind down a little bit. What about you aren't you supposed to be training?"

"Couldn't focus," Percy gave a short reply.

She nodded and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them. "Same here, I had the weirdest conversation with Silena today. I've been thinking about it ever since this morning. Then there was the whole 'Grover getting hit in the head with a pair of hedge clippers'."

They both gave a short laugh at that. "Yea it's been a long day even though it's only 2:30," Percy agreed checking the watch Tyson gave him oh so many years ago.

The demigods sat in silence for a while just enjoying each other's presence. This was one of the few calm moments they have left because the closer it gets to Percy's 16th Birthday, the more hectic things will get. The sound of the waves crashing against the beach was soothing. Seagulls were chirping overhead and you could hear the clashing of celestial bronze on imperial gold in the distance.

Percy broke the silence. "Annabeth did I ever tell you what I wanted to be when I grew up? You know before this whole demigod thing happened."

Annabeth nodded no so he continued. "When I was younger I wanted to be in the Navy. I love my country and I had always felt drawn to water, now I know why, so it seemed like the perfect fit for me. The sad part is, now I can't see myself doing it. If I survive this war I have no idea what I'm going to do."

"Why can't you see yourself doing it anymore? It seems perfect for you?" Annabeth questioned.

He turned towards Annabeth. His green eyes had a solemn look to them and the waves in the ocean seemed to fall flat. "I've been in the midst of a war for three, almost four years of my life and I'm not even 16 yet. Now that I've experienced battle first hand, even as selfless as I am, I can't imagine myself voluntarily going back into it."

"You know as much as I'd love your Navy dream to work out, I'm kind of glad it isn't. Percy I'd miss you so much if you left. You once went missing for 2 weeks and I almost lost my mind. I like having you near me so I know you're safe," Annabeth spoke looking shyly at the ground, breaking her eye contact with him.

Percy gently grabbed Annabeth chin and turned her head so it was facing him. Her stormy gray eyes poured into his and her cheeks flushed pink because of the closeness. She parted her lips in anticipation as they both leaned in.

They both pulled away quickly when they heard someone approaching. "Percy!" the voice yelled. It kept getting louder and louder as the person got closer. Percy and Annabeth both stood up not looking at each other. Then Grover walked out into view and smiled when he saw his friends.

"Hey G-man your awake! How ya feeling?" Percy asked approaching Grover. Annabeth trailed behind awkwardly.

Grover waved him off. "Yea, Yea I'm fine," he put on a serious face. "Look Percy I need to ask you something and I want a completely honest answer."

"I'm just gonna leave," Annabeth piped up and sprinted off.

Percy's eyes followed her until he could no longer see her silhouette. He turned to Grover raising an eyebrow. "Um okay, yea sure fire away."

"I want you to tell me what actually happened on Mount St. Helens last year."


	4. Chapter 4

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 4**

Percy tried to cover up his shock with a cough. He started backing away from Grover chuckling nervously. "What do ya mean G-man?"

Grover gave his best friend and incredulous look. He couldn't believe Percy still wasn't fessing up. Did Percy not trust him? The satyr felt a surge of anger, something he wasn't used to feeling. Grover's fingernails dug painfully into his palms as he curled his hands into fists. "Cut the crap Percy I know Annabeth kissed you!" He burst out.

In response Percy sputtered while looking around to see if anyone heard what Grover had just said. Lucky for him, there was no one near them. He turned to Grover and smiled guiltily. "How'd you find out? Did Annabeth tell you?"

"That's not what's bothering me Percy!" Grover spat. Percy just gave him a confused expression. He sighed and continued. "It's the fact that you didn't tell me. I'm your best friend yet for some reason you had no intention of tell me that you and my other best friend kissed."

It was silent for a moment. The two boys simply looked at each other. Percy had no idea what to say. Grover had never been mad at him before. Percy kept opening and closing his mouth but he couldn't seem to find the right thing to say.

"Look Grover I didn't think it mattered that much. I mean, Annabeth and I haven't even talked about it."

Grover had a great poker face, Percy will admit that. His face was void of any expression what so ever. "Percy you dumb son of a bi-"He started but was interrupted by a sudden eruption of loud commotion from the camp.

Percy smiled at the sky and pumped his fists in the air. "Thank you Zeus," he stated ecstatically as he ran away from Long Island Sound and towards the group of demigods that were running to the entrance of the camp.

"We are not done talking about this!" Grover shouted, glaring at Percy's back as it disappeared in the crowd. Grover ran up the beach, onto the grass and sprinted his way to the Big House to retrieve Chiron and Mr.

Apparently, Clarisse and Beckendorf had spotted a hoard of monsters heading towards the magical borders of Camp Half-Blood while they were on guard duty. Technically, everyone as safe as long as they stayed inside the camp, but with satyrs leaving to recruit demigods and campers leaving on quests to slow down Kronos and his army, it would be a bad idea on their part to just ignore the problem.

The most experienced fighters made their way to the front of the crowd and looked down Half-Blood hill at the small but powerful army in front of them. They all stood in a line and looked at one another, weapons in hand.

Percy stepped forward and took a look at everyone, then turned back to the monsters. "What a great way to start of the summer," he grumbled.

"Luke, I mean Kronos, probably sent these monsters to weaken our defenses. If he could wipe some of us out now, it would save him some trouble," a voice piped up from the back. Percy recognized it as Annabeth and his suspicions were confirmed when she stepped up next to him, her shoulders brushing against his.

He glanced at her smiling, glad to have his battle partner with him despite what happened earlier. "I have an idea on how I can get a majority of them gone. It looks like they outnumber us 1 to 4 but I could probably get that ratio down to 1 to 2."

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond but was beaten to it by Chiron who stepped forward with Grover by his side. "Percy, child, perhaps you should sit this out. We can't risk you getting seriously injured right now."

Percy scoffed and tuned his attention back in front of him. He responded not looking at Chiron. "Yea no that's not gonna happen Chiron sorry. All of this is happening because of my birth so it's my fight." He put riptide in his pocket to free both of his hands. "Brace yourselves guys, it's about to get rough up in here.

Everyone gripped their weapons tighter as Percy turned his hands towards the ground. They all knew what he was capable of, the memory of him blowing up a volcano popped into most people's minds as the ground started to shake.

Percy's eyes flashed a dark shade of green as the ground underneath him shook. He focused his energy towards the monsters, effectively making some of them trip and stab themselves with their own swords. Then Percy tuned his head to the right sharply and raised his hand toward Long Island Sound. He felt a familiar tug in his gut as he saw a tidal wave of water rise above them. His hands shot outwards to the monsters and the volume of water shot blasted fiercely in their direction, killing a lot of them on impact.

By the time he was finished, half of the army had dissolved into dust. Slowly, Percy lowered his hands and let out a deep breath. He reached into his pocket grabbing riptide. He uncapped it and the pen turned into a six foot long sword. The celestial bronze gleamed in the summer sun, making Percy smile slightly.

"Archers on guard!" Annabeth shouted twirling her dagger. The Apollo Cabin archers that positioned themselves in the trees, raised their bow and arrows ready to fire. Chiron and the untrained demigod's receded back to the safety of the magical borders.

Annabeth turned to Percy. He couldn't help but notice how with her blonde hair whipping behind her and her steely gray eyes, she looked like a warrior princess, which arguably was true. "You ready?" she asked.

"When am I not," he smirked.

Not braking eye contact with Percy, Annabeth shouted her final commands. "Archers fire! Warriors advance!" At once, volleys of arrows were shot taking down the front line of the army. The demigods surged forward at once weapons raised.

With one last reassuring smile, Annabeth and Percy raced into battle side by side, the way the way the fates intended.

Percy started out fighting hell hounds. They snarled at him as he dodged their advances and countered their attacks by slashing their knees. Eventually he was able to finish them all with a swift stab to the stomach.

Then he came across a particularly huge and angry looking cyclops. Percy ran towards his legs but leaped to the grass as he saw the cyclops's club swing at him. He rolled to his stomach and jumped back up quickly enough to grab onto the club.

As the cyclops raised his club yet again, he let out a confused grunt because he had yet to see Percy on his weapon. With the element of surprise on his hands, Percy jumped from the club onto the bald head of the cyclops. He raised his sword and stabbed the cyclops in the eye, rendering him blind. Subsequently, he dissolved into dust causing Percy to fall 15 feet to the ground.

Groaning, he stood up and surveyed his surroundings. His friends seemed to be doing very well. Then an empusa charged at him so he was thrown back into battle. Now empusa weren't the hardest monsters to fight so Percy was only half paying attention because he was looking for Annabeth in his peripheral vision.

They had gotten separated in the midst of fighting which wasn't unusual but he still wanted to know where she was. When he finally saw her, Percy wasn't happy with what he saw. Annabeth was doing well, that wasn't the problem. Her attention was on the cyclops in front of her so she didn't see the hellhound coming up behind her. Now that was an issue.

Time seemed to slow down in an instant. Percy looked at Annabeth in terror as the hellhound got closer and closer. Not thinking about his own safety he shouted her name loudly drawing the attention of the demigods close to them. She killed the cyclops and looked at him in confusion.

Percy threw his sword at the hellhound leaving him defenseless. For once luck was on his side because he did kill the hellhound, but that quickly became the least of his concerns. The empusa cackled at him and slashed his side. Percy collapsed to his knees at full mercy to the empusa.

"Archers on guard! Shoot now!" Annabeth screamed terrified. He quickly realized why. When Percy shouted Annabeth's name, he not only received the attention of the surrounding demigods, he also received unwanted attention from the monsters close to him. They all advanced towards him as the archers shot volley after volley of arrows to defend Percy.

He was bleeding profusely now, no longer able to support himself, Percy fell to the ground gripping his blood stained T-shirt. A piece of black hair fell into his eyes as he watched the scene unfold.

One last thought rang around in his head before he lost consciousness. _In order to save a friend, you'd sacrifice the world._

"William we need you!" Chiron shouted as he entered the infirmary holding a bleeding Percy Jackson. The healer appeared wearing his usual jeans, scrub shirt, and flip flops.

As soon as his blue eyes met Percy's lifeless looking figure he started shouting orders. "Clear a bed! Get me some disinfectant, lap pads, and a suture kit!"

Another on duty Apollo kid waved Will and Chiron over to an empty bed as the others scrambled to gather supplies. Chiron gently placed Percy on the bed. Will grabbed a pair of scissors from a nearby table and cut open his shirt to reveal the wound.

"Hey I'm also gonna need 2, 15cc doses of morphine and a shot of local anesthetic! Let's also get a central line going," Will barked. He walked over to the sink and started sterilizing his hands "Just because he's passed out now doesn't mean he'll stay that way. When he wakes up, he's gonna be in a hell of a lot of pain."

Will finished cleaning his hands so he proceeded to put on surgical gloves. He sat down in a rolling chair and rolled over to Percy's right side, examining the wound. He looked up at a worried Chiron and spoke. "We've got it from here Chiron. It would be helpful if you could stand by the entrance and make sure none of his friends come in just yet. I don't want them distracting me or my crew." The centaur nodded in response and did as he was told.

"Alright, let's get this party started. Andrew hand me the local anesthetic," Will asked holding out his hand. Andrew obeyed and handed it to him so Will injected the liquid next to the wound and got to work.

When he finished disinfecting the area he looked up. "Okay I need you to push the first 15ccs of morphine into the central line. I'm gonna start stitching him up." Will Solace did his wok meticulously. He carefully stitched up Percy's side and used the lap pads to soak up any extra blood.

Percy groaned in his sleep and turned his head to face Will. Sleepily, he muttered 'Annabeth' under his breath before he went silent again. Will let out a chuckle and whispered to himself, "Silena is gonna get a kick out of this when I tell her."

Not looking up from his task on hand, he started talking to Chiron. "Chiron, you see that file cabinet to the left of you?" Will asked. Chiron responded with a nod but realized Will wasn't looking at him so he piped up with a 'yes'. "Great. I need you to get me Percy's medical file. The cabinets are alphabetized by last name."

Chiron searched the cabinets until he found the file. He trotted over to Will and handed it to him just as he finished stitching up Percy. He stood up from his chair taking off his gloves and throwing them in a waste bin. Will took the file with a thank you and opened it scanning page after page with his eyes.

Finally, he came upon what he what looking for. Will frowned to himself. "Percy's blood type is AB negative," he spoke quietly looking up. "That's like, one of the rarest blood types. The chances of someone else at camp having that specific type is next to nothing. We need to find someone with type O blood, it's universal so anyone can receive it," he explained.

That's when Annabeth rushed into the infirmary. "Where is he? Will what's wrong with him!" Her blonde hair was coming out of her ponytail and her face was smeared with dirt and monster dust. Annabeth's expression was laced with concern, her grey eyes were watering. It looked like she was close to tears.

"His cut was pretty deep but I stitched it up. I won't be able to know the extent of his injuries until he wakes up and is able to tell me if anything else happened," Will told Annabeth as she walked over to Percy's bedside and pushed a piece of hair out of his face. "However he did lose a lot of blood so we're trying to find a universal blood donor so we can give him some."

Annabeth looked up at Will. "The universal blood type is O right?" Will nodded. "I have type O blood, I'll donate some," she told Will. He sighed in relief and sat her down in the chair by Percy's bedside.

"That's great to hear I'll go get the supplies," Will notified as he walked off. He closed the curtain around Percy's bed to give them some privacy.

She looked at Percy and admired how peaceful he looked in his sleep. Thank god he grew out of his drooling habit. His raven black hair framed his face and contrasted with his bright green eyes in the best way possible (not that she could see them now but you get the point).

The daughter of Athena let out a sigh. "Why do you always have to be so selfless Percy? This gigantic hero complex of yours is going to get you killed one day if your fatal flaw doesn't get to you first. I love you so much and I don't want you to injure yourself trying to protect me. I can handle myself you know," She spoke indignantly to him, then chuckled to herself.

"Who am I kidding," she continued. "That's just who you are. You're never going to stop pulling crazy stunts like this, and the only reason I'm telling you this is because you can't hear me. When you wake up, it'll be like this conversation never happened, and I'm okay with that. But don't think for a moment you won't get an earful from me when you do wake up. Prepare yourself Jackson," Annabeth finished. She leaned back in her chair and waited for Will Solace to return.

Unfortunately, a majority of the Operation Percabeth taskforce had been involved in the battle so there had been a unanimous decision to postpone the meeting scheduled for that night, to the next day. Luckily for them, all activities had been canceled for the day so it freed them all up to do whatever needed to be done. This meant Silena no longer had to play sick in order to work out her plan.

They all stayed behind after breakfast and met at the Aphrodite Table. Silena smiled at them all, glad to see her friends got away from the battle with only minor scrapes and bruises. The continuous and unrelenting training seemed to have paid off greatly.

Grover and Silena both spoke up at the same time. "I have a lot to tell you guys." They both looked at each other in surprise whilst Conner and Travis Stoll started laughing. "I'll go first," Silena and Grover both said at same time once again. Everyone at the table started snickering. Grover sighed and gestured for Silena to go first.

"Okay so I spoke with Annabeth yesterday, and I managed to get her to admit that she really likes Percy!" Silena squealed in excitement clapping her hands together.

Will Solace spoke up next. "Yesterday when I was stitching up Percy after the battle, he muttered Annabeth's name in his sleep so I say it's safe to assume he feels the same way," he smiled pleased with himself. They all turned to Grover to hear what he had to say.

Grover cracked his knuckles and neck then laced his hands together, placing them on the table in front of him. "Are ya'll ready for this ground breaking discovery?"

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Get on with it goat boy."

"Percy and Annabeth kissed last summer," he announced proudly. There was a moment of shocked silence until everyone burst into chatter.

Katie Gardner was the one to quiet them all down. "Woah woah woah, guys calm down a second. Grover, how'd you find this out?" she questioned.

"As you all know yesterday my dear friend Katie here knocked me out by hitting my in head with a pair of hedge clippers," Grover recounted glancing over at Katie who was smiling sheepishly. Travis offered her a high fived but she smacked his arm away. "Well when I was asleep, I had a dream. It wasn't actually a dream though as more of a memory.

Malcolm raised his eye brow skeptically. "How do you know this actually happened though? We can't rely on the assumption that it was a memory not a dream."

"Because I confronted Percy about it and he confirmed my suspicions. I was trying to get more information from him, but the battle broke out so I haven't been able to talk to him since," Grover explained. Silena bit her lip in thought as the conversation continued.

Beckendorf grabbed Silena's hand under the table. "So what actually happened in your dream/ memory?"

"Percy and Annabeth were in Mount St. Helens. This large group of telekhines barged in on this cave they were in. Percy and Annabeth were behind this rock. It was clear they weren't going to escape unless someone took drastic measures. So Percy told Annabeth to put on her invisibility cap and leave. She got pissed and refused but Percy insisted that she go. Annabeth kissed him then left. Percy tried to fight them off but he couldn't. They were throwing lava at him, it was terrible to watch. Then Percy let out this horrid scream and blew up the volcano. It was the bravest thing I've ever seen," Grover recounted.

It was silent for moment as everyone processed what they just heard. "That's insane but really sweet at the same time," Clarisse admitted. They all looked at her in surprise. "As much as I hate to admit it, that punk is brave."

Suddenly, Silena chimed in on the conversation. "I know what our next move is gonna be guys," she paused and made eye contact with the satyr. "Grover, how good are you at holding your ground in an argument?"

Percy awoke in the infirmary the next morning to see that he was the only person in there with the exception of Will Solace. Will was asleep in the cot next to him, still wearing a blood covered scrub shirt. Percy sat up in his bed and let out a groan of pain, awaking Will from his slumber.

Will sat up confused for a moment then smiled when he saw that Percy was awake. He checked his watch and stood up. "Well Mr. Jackson I'm glad to see you're awake, and right on time too. I need to give you your second dose of morphine."

He merely nodded in response, still groggy from his almost 16 hour nap. Will injected the morphine into a tube that was connected to Percy's arm. Once the liquid disappeared he spoke up. "We don't need this central line any more so I'm gonna remove it. Yesterday I stitched up your side so don't go fighting any monsters for a few days. We don't want you tearing the stitches. You lost a lot of blood too but Annabeth donated some of hers to you. Who knows, maybe you'll become a wee bit smarter Jackson," Will finished smirking.

"So when can I leave?" Percy asked as Will pulled the tube out of his arm. He winced slightly.

Will proceeded to put a band aid on the spot as he answered. "If nothing else is bothering you then later this afternoon. I'm gonna hand you some ambrosia to eat before I head to breakfast. I have to meet with some people after so I'll be back around noon. When I get back I'll change your bandages then you my friend are free to go."

"Sweet. So what do I get to do meanwhile?"

"You my friend get to chill here in the infirmary. There isn't much to do so you can walk around here a bit if you want. I'm sure you'll have visitors though."

Percy groaned. "Ah man Annabeth is gonna be pissed I didn't let her fight of that hell hound herself. Damn children of Athena and their hubris. Plus Grover is still mad at me from before. You might as well put me out of my misery now Solace."

Will chuckled in response. "You'll be fine you big baby. Now eat these ambrosia squares," he commanded. Percy obliged and started nibbling on them. "If you get hungry there are granola bars for on shift doctors in the top left drawer of the desk. If you start to die or something just press that blue button by your pillow. It'll page me because I'm the only on call doctor right now." The conch horn blew to signal breakfast time. "Alright Jackson, best of luck to you," Will quipped as he waved Percy goodbye.

After Will left, Percy was left alone to his own devices for quite a while so he stood up, stretched, and proceeded to explore the infirmary. He was lucky enough to never have to be in here very often so he looked around at all the medical supplies and opened all the closets to keep his mind occupied.

He had just finished looking through the last closet when he got his first visitor. Annabeth. Percy squeaked and hid behind a cabinet quickly, but not fast enough.

"Percy I saw you idiot get out here and face me like a man," Annabeth demanded. Percy slowly stepped out from his hiding place and smiled nervously at Annabeth. She had a small cut on her forehead but otherwise seemed to have escaped the battle yesterday with only minor injuries. "Okay I have 3 things to say to you. One, thank you for what you did even though it was stupid. Two, I'm not here to yell at you because I assume you already know what you did wrong. And three, whatever happens in this room, stays in this room. Understood?"

He nodded quickly in response. Annabeth stepped towards him and he took a step back. This went on until Percy was about a foot away from a mirror that was against the wall.

"Stop backing away from me dammit!" Annabeth commanded sounding frustrated. "Now you agree that whatever happens in this room stays in this room right? It'll be like it never happened." Percy nodded. "I want a verbal confirmation Percy."

He sighed. "Yes Annabeth I agree now what is it?"

Annabeth glanced up at Percy, grabbed his neck and kissed him roughly. Percy was stunned for a moment but reciprocated. He pulled her closer by the waist with one hand but kept the other one cupping her cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Electricity shot through both of them, fire igniting all of their veins in a way that couldn't be extinguished. Percy moved the hand that was cupping Annabeth's cheek down her neck slowly and lustfully, enjoying the feel of her skin against his.

Percy slowly turned them around and pressed Annabeth gently against the mirror behind them not caring if it broke. Her fingernails clawed at his back and rummaged through his hair messing it up. Their bodies were shaking, sweating, quivering but neither of them cared. Annabeth licked his upper lip with her tongue asking for an entrance.

Welcomingly, he opens his mouth and allows their longing desire to come true. Annabeth groans in bliss before she pulls away. Her lips are swollen red and her pupils were dilated. She took a step to the side away from the mirror and Percy.

"Like I said before Percy this," she gestured between them then around the room. "Never happened." Then Annabeth left the infirmary, leaving Percy alone to wonder what in gods name _did_ just happen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 5**

Grover's task was an easy one. Get into an argument with Percy. Silena's goal was to somehow get Percy so upset that he left camp for a while. Now, Grover saw a lot of flaws in this plan but decided to just go with it because if he didn't help, Silena would get someone else to.

So Grover walked towards the infirmary fully prepared to give Percy a piece of his mind but stopped dead in his tracks a few feet away. He got this sudden feeling of emptiness in his gut. Grover's heart pounded in his chest when he realized it must've been from his empathy link with Percy.

That's when the door to the infirmary burst open and who else but Annabeth Chase stepped out. She shut the door behind her and leant against it for a moment. Annabeth brought her hand to her lips and touched them, she had a frantic look in her eyes as she raced off to who knows where.

Grover continued his walk to the infirmary and regathered his thoughts as he walked up the steps. He prepared himself to get into the worst fight he'd ever have with his best friend, but the moment he opened the door and saw Percy's face he forgot everything he was planning to say.

His hair was a mess, and at closer glance Grover saw that his eyes held the same frantic look Annabeth's had. Percy turned his head towards Grover and let out a shaky breath. "Grover, something weird just happened."

Conner, Travis, and Clarisse left the Operation Percabeth meeting with the task of speaking with Chiron and/or Mr. D. It was an odd sight, the three of them together. It's not that they weren't friends, because they are, it was the fact that usually Clarisse would be yelling at the Stoll brothers for doing something stupid. But at this particular moment in time, the three of them seemed to be in peace with one another. This was because for once they all had a common goal.

The trio stepped into the Big House looking for the camp leaders. Chiron didn't seem to be in the near vicinity but Dionysius was. He looked up from his game of solitaire and stared at the demigods. "Yes," he questioned taking a sip of his Diet Coke.

"Um, we're looking for Chiron. It's regarding Percy Jackson." Conner spoke up crossing his arms across his chest.

Mr. D paused for moment and looked the three of them over. "I see. What did Peter Johnson do this time? Poseidon has always spawned troublesome kids I'm telling you."

"Well he did almost die yesterday but that's pretty standard for him to be honest," Travis stated. Conner and Clarisse both nodded in agreement. "Look sir, could you just tell us where Chiron is please and we'll be out of your hair."

The god continued to stare at them in silence. Clarisse started tapping her foot impatiently when Mr. D went back to his solitaire game. After a good minute of silence, he spoke up not looking up from his game. "He should be in his office now shoo go away. I'm trying to focus."

They sighed in relief and walked down the hall to Chiron's office. When they opened the door they saw Chiron in his wheel chair form writing in a notebook. He glanced up at them, then went back to writing. "Yes children?"

"Chiron we're about to tell you something, then ask you something, and we need you to just go along with it no questions asked," Clarisse informed him.

The centaur dropped his pencil, looked up at them in curiosity, then leaned back into his wheel chair. "Well you three have my undivided attention. Don't waste it." Conner, Travis, and Clarisse smiled at each other.

"Sometime today, Percy Jackson is going to find you and ask if he can go home for a few days. We need you to let him leave," Conner explained.

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Travis smirked at him. His eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them that Chiron was used to seeing but still wary of. "No, this is where it gets interesting and a little strange." Chiron couldn't help but think to himself, as if this situation isn't strange enough as it is. "When Percy leaves, don't tell anyone that he asked you to go or where he's going for that matter. We need it to seem like he ran off."

"Do I want to know why you're asking me to do this?"

Clarisse shook her head no. "Trust me on this sir you really don't."

He slowly nodded his head in agreement. "I guess I could do you this favor. I don't see how it would cause any harm to do so."

Travis let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Oh thank you so much! Silena would've killed if we couldn't get this part of the plan done."

"Silena? Silena Beauregard? What does sh-, "Chiron was interrupted by the slamming of the Big House door. All four of them went silent and listened carefully to figure out who it was.

"Mr. D? I need to talk to Chiron. Can you tell me where he is?" Once they heard the voice of the person, Conner, Travis, and Clarisse's faces were overtaken by an expression of pure panic. The voice was coming from the one and only Percy Jackson.

They all looked around the room trying to find and escape route, or at least a place to hide. Conner was the first to speak. "Damn Grover works fast. I thought we'd have at least another half an hour before they finished hashing it out."

"Yea well obviously Grover got to him pretty quickly but that's not the point. We have to get out of here, Percy can't know that we ever talked to Chiron or else he'll know somethings up!" Clarisse whisper yelled at the brothers. Chiron merely sat in his wheel chair watching the situation in amusement.

Travis suddenly drew his attention to the window. "Hey guys look, the windows open." Conner and Clarisse looked over in his direction and smiled.

"Sweet let's go," Conner rushed out before he jumped out the window and into the bushes.

His brother Travis mock saluted Chiron. "Adios amigo," he quipped before he too leaped out the window, subsequently landing on top of his brother. Conner let out a yelp and complained in protest. "Bro what the hell," he ground out.

Clarisse followed not far behind. She turned to Chiron one last time and made eye contact with him. "Remember, we were never here," she reminded him. Chiron nodded in response as she leaped out the window and ran off with Conner and Travis.

Will, Malcolm, and Katie were sitting on the porch of the Demeter Cabin waiting for Grover, the Stoll brothers, and Clarisse to give them the go ahead to start their part of Operation Percabeth. Silena gave them the task if Iris Messaging Percy's mom and talking to her about what they were trying to accomplish. Grover informed them that Sally Jackson was a sweet woman, so she probably wouldn't get pissed at them for meddling in her son's love life. Thatw was a relief for everyone.

Almost simultaneously, the people they were waiting for arrived. Grover walked up the cabin whilst talking to Beckendorf. Travis grabbed the drachma his brother was holding out to him, then waved Clarisse and Conner goodbye as he approached the cabin.

"Well we got Chiron on board," Travis smiled victoriously. "And I know Grover did his part because Percy almost walked in on us talking to Chiron. Bro you work fast."

Grover turned and smiled weakly at Travis. "Actually I didn't even have to do anything. When I walked into the infirmary to fight with Percy, he was already pretty upset. He and Annabeth had a… Well let's just say they something happened."

"Ah that makes sense," Beckendorf mumbled to himself quietly.

Katie had heard what he said and looked at him in curiosity. "What do you mean, that makes sense?"

Beckendorf looked at everyone and retold what he and Silena had seen while they were in the forest. "Well Silena and I were walking through the woods-"He was cut off by Travis who was making kissing noises. Everyone gave him an incredulous look. Travis shrunk back slightly as Beckendorf continued. "Anyway, we were walking through the woods when he heard a noise. So we approached the area form where it came from and we saw Annabeth sitting on top of Zeus's Fist. She was clearly upset so I left her and Silena alone to talk. Then I met up with Grover and came here."

The group nodded in understanding. "So if all parts have worked so far then I guess we're good to go," Malcolm piped up."

"Yea I guess so. Honestly, I'm surprised everything has gone so smoothly," Katie agreed.

Travis held up the drachma he had in his hand. "I have the drachma we need for the Iris Message. I say we get started. Though I don't think we need all of us here."

Everyone mumbled in agreement. Will spoke up next. "Well I think I should stay because I'm Percy's doctor and I need to explain to his mom how to care for his wound while he's there. Grover should stay because he's a familiar face. Katie, you can man the watering hose. Does that sound alright with everyone?"

"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena," Malcolm quipped. Everyone but the aforementioned three people left.

Katie turned on the watering hose by the Demeter Cabins plants and configured it to release a fine mist. She angled it in the sunlight to create a rainbow. Travis handed Grover the drachma and he started speaking. "O Iris Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," Grover spoke clearly as he threw the drachma into the mist. He continued to speak when it disappeared. "Show me Sally Jackson in Manhattan."

The mist rippled for a moment then changed into an image of a middle aged woman sweeping her kitchen floor. She had her hair pulled up in a loose ponytail and she was wearing a light blue apron around her waist. She turned around and dropped her broom in surprise when she saw the floating image of 3 teenagers staring at her.

"Hey Ms. Jackson," Grover waved. She smiled and picked up her broom. Sally placed it on the table and took seat in front of her sink, where the Iris Message was coming from.

"Grover! What a pleasant surprise," she said happily. Then her smile wavered. "What did Percy do this time?"

Katie snorted as she and Grover looked at Will, urging him to speak. "Um hi, Ms. Jackson. I'm Will Solace, the camps head medic."

Sally's face paled slightly as she looked at Will in confusion. "You're a doctor? But you're Percy's age?"

"Well my dad is Apollo, the god of medicine, so healing is kind of a natural thing for me and my siblings," He explained. "Anyway yesterday we were attacked by Kronos's army and Percy got injured. He's okay but he got cut pretty badly on his side."

She relaxed slightly and sighed in relief. "Okay, um thanks for telling me."

That's when Katie chimed in. "Oh that's not all we're here to tell you. I'm Katie Gardner, by the way, daughter of Demeter," she smiled at Sally brightly. "I'd shake your hand but you know," gestured to the Iris Message. "So sometime today Percy is going to contact you and tell you that he's coming home. While he's there we need you to do some investigating for us."

"Okay but first I just have to ask, how do you know he's going to come home?"

"He and Annabeth had an incident earlier today while he was in the infirmary. Now I've been sworn to secrecy so I can't tell you what happened, but trust me when I say he's going to want to go home for a few days," Grover claimed.

Sally smiled in response. "Well I'm sure he and Annabeth will work out whatever happened but I am glad he's coming home. I've missed him."

"I'm sure they will too Ms. Jackson," Grover agreed.

Will suddenly pipped up. "Oh and obviously we're going to need you to not tell Percy about this conversation. If anyone were to ask this never happened, we never talked to you. I know it sounds kinda odd but it will all make sense once we explain what we need you to investigate."

She merely nodded in understanding. "Alright I can do that. What do you need?"

The trio looked at each other then came to a silent agreement to let Katie explain. "So lately we've been looking into Percy and Annabeth's relationship. They obviously care about each other very much, so we've been investigating to figure out why they aren't together. Now our resident Aphrodite Cabin head counselor has been leading the investigation. She talked to Annabeth so we know where she stands, but we have no clue what's going on in Percy's head. That's where you come in Ms. Jackson."

Grover started talking next. "As you probably realized, your son is very obtuse. That being said, if we all of a sudden started asking him tons of questions about his relationship with Annabeth, he'd probably figure out something was up. But you're his mother and if you start asking him questions it won't seem suspicious at all."

"Basically Ms. Jackson we need you to ask him why he isn't pursuing things with Annabeth. Then if you feel up to it, try to convince him to make a move or something," Will instructed.

They all looked at Sally in anticipation. She chewed her lip in contemplation for a moment then broke the silence. "Yea alright I guess I can do that." The teenagers' cheered and high fived each other.

"Thank you so much Ms. Jackson. It may seem weird but this really means a lot to some people here at camp," Will spoke in gratitude. "Oh and while he's there, make sure he doesn't do anything crazy and tear his stitches. Also make sure to change the bandage I have over the stitches if he starts to bleed through them."

"Seems simple enough," she responded.

Katie, Will, and Grover said their goodbyes to Sally. Katie then shut of the water and ended the message. Step 2 of the plan was complete.

Silena was walking hand in hand with Beckendorf in the forest. Admittedly, it wasn't the safest place in the camp. Everyone knew that the monsters left over from war games and the battle of the labyrinth last summer, still roamed the forest. However Silena and Beckendorf wanted some privacy, and that was something you just couldn't get in the heart of the camp. Especially since Chiron and Mr. D issued the rule that says a boy and a girl can't be alone in a cabin.

"So what do you want to do for our one year anniversary next week? It needs to be special because your mom might curse me for life if you don't have the best night of your life," Beckendorf spoke pulling Silena closer to him by her waist.

She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Aw Charlie I'm sure I'll love anything you plan for us." He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"You know, I can't wait until this war is finally over. Then we can spend our summer's traveling and doing normal boyfriend girlfriend things. Not that I don't enjoy the 10 minutes we get together between training for recon missions and such," Beckendorf commented moving a tree branch aside, giving them a clear path

Silena let out a wistful sigh. "I feel the same way babe. Thank Zeus we only have to endure two more months of this craziness." They continued to walk through the forest in silence just enjoying each other's presence. That's when they heard the sound of falling rocks and a groan.

Beckendorf put his hand on the hilt of his knife and positioned himself in front of Silena. They slowly stepped out into a clearing and realized they were standing by Zeus's Fist. Silena and Beckendorf scanned their surroundings trying to figure out where the noise came from.

"Charlie look. Isn't that Annabeth?" Silena whispered to her boyfriend pointing to the figure sitting hunched over on top of Zeus's Fist. She recognized her trademark curly blonde hair. Beckendorf nodded in affirmation with a perplexed expression. "Annabeth?" Silena piped up quizzically and a little hesitantly.

She turned her head quickly and relaxed when she saw Silena. "Hey," Annabeth mumbled dejectedly, turning back around.

"I'll go check in with Grover and see how it went," Beckendorf whispered to Silena. She gave him a quick goodbye peck on the lips before he left.

Silena cautiously approached Annabeth not wanting to be on the receiving end of her knife. Annabeth's nose was red. Her lip quivered as a lone tear fell from her eye and onto her cheek. She sniffled and buried her head in her hands. Silena took a seat next to her on the pile of rocks and hugged her knees to her chest.

They sat in silence until Annabeth composed herself. "Silena I did something really stupid. Like so stupid that it might ruin the relationship I have with the most important person in my life."

"C'mon Annabeth it couldn't have been that bad. I bet Percy doesn't even think whatever happened was a big deal," Silena waved her off.

Annabeth looked up from her hands and gazed into the forest. "No trust me it's a big deal," she began. Slowly an expression of confusion overtook Annabeth's face. She turned towards Silena. "Wait, how did you know I was talking about Percy? I never mentioned his name."

Silena looked at her with a face that said 'do you think I'm stupid'. Annabeth let out a monotonous chuckle. "Sometimes I forget you're a daughter of Aphrodite.

"So are you gonna tell me what happened or just leave me in the dark?"

"I really don't want to talk about it quite yet," she stammered out, hiding her face from Silena's view.

The wind ruffled Silena's hair as she leaned back, basking in the sunlight. "Oh well. You know I'm just going to assume the worst until I get an answer right," she stated sneaking a glance at Annabeth. "For all I know you guys could've made out or something," Silena joked.

Annabeth choked on her spit and tried to cover it up by clearing her throat. This didn't go unnoticed by Silena. She studied her face and noticed that Annabeth's cheeks were flushed pink. Also, Annabeth was averting her gaze.

A sudden look of realization and shock took over Silena's face. "No way," she hissed in disbelief, smiling like she just won the lottery. "Oh my gods you guys totally made out!" she squealed. The daughter of Athena just stared at her shoes like they were they were the most interesting thing on the planet.

Silena could tell Annabeth was uncomfortable about the situation so she patted her back comfortingly. "Look, you're secret is safe with me Annabeth. Plus you have nothing to worry about. I mean you kissed him last summer and that didn't change anything. I don't see why this would be any different."

For a moment, all seemed right. Then, Silena realized what she just said and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Annabeth looked petrified.

"How the hell do you know about that?" Annabeth shrieked standing up. Silena froze in fear but quickly realized she couldn't lie her way out of this.

She stood up and smiled shakily at Annabeth whose grey eyes had darkened a shade. "Okay when Grover got hit in the head with Katie's hedge clippers, he was sent the memory of what happened at Mount St. Helens by Percy via their empathy link," Silena explained twirling a piece of hair between her fingers nervously.

"Alright but that doesn't explain how you know."

Now Silena doesn't like to lie, but she found it necessary to in this particular predicament. "He told me because he knows you and I are good friends and he wanted my opinion on what to do with the information. Don't worry though only you, Percy, Grover and I know."

Annabeth relaxed slightly but was still wary. She looked up shyly at Silena. "So you seriously think I didn't ruin our friendship?"

"I doubt it Annabeth, but you can't keep kissing the guy without an explanation. If you continue to do this then yea you'll probably ruin things to be honest," Silena spoke sternly.

Annabeth wringed her hands together and nodded solemnly. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew Silena was right. Percy was a really nice guy but she couldn't string him along like this forever and expect him to be okay with it.

Silena broke the silence. "Look I hope you don't mind me asking this, but why haven't you told Percy how you felt? From what I've heard, it seems like he likes you back. I mean, it takes two to tango, or in this case make out." Annabeth gave her a half-hearted glare, then looked back into the forest.

There was a brief pause while Annabeth thought out her answer. "You know I've had the smallest crush on him since we first met 4 years ago. And for the longest time before that I liked Luke, but then he betrayed us and went berserk. I always thought there was a chance that he would come back ya know? But last summer when he let Kronos over take his body I realized that there was no chance of that happening. That's when my feelings for Percy really started to grow. I had been denying it for so long that it was a relief to finally come to terms with it. When he made me leave the volcano last summer I honestly thought that might be the last time I ever saw him so I kissed him. It's a scary thing to trust someone with your life. The last time I did the guy turned out to become my worst enemy. I trust Percy with my life and that scares me. What if he turns out like Luke? I know that logically he won't because his fatal flaw is personal loyalty, but I can't help but think it. He's also the child of the great prophecy and he might die in 2 months. Plus our immortal parents hate each other so there's that too," she finished, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well your reasons are all very valid Annabeth but I still think you should tell him before it's too late. Percy is an honest, sweet, and an overall awesome guy. It won't be long before some other girl realizes this and snatches him away. Annabeth, the last thing you want to do is look back on your life and wonder, if only. So what if he might die in 2 months? Admittedly that would suck but at least you'd know you gave it your best shot. You can't think your way out of emotions. I know for a fact that if you don't pursue what you have with Percy, you'll regret it."

It was quiet after Silena finished her lecture. Annabeth made her way off of Zeus's Fist, Silena not far behind. When they reached the ground, Annabeth looked at Silena. "You know your stuff Beauregard, and you are very persuasive might I add," Silena smirked as they started walking back to camp. "The next time I see Percy, I'll tell him how I feel," Annabeth begrudgingly agreed.

Silena squealed and clapped her hands together. "You won't regret this Annabeth I swear." The girls continued to chat as they walked through the forest.

Eventually they entered the cabin area and were about to part ways when Will Solace came up, out of view from Annabeth. He looked at Silena and gave her a thumbs up. Step 2 of the plan had worked. Now it was time to put it in action. Silena smiled at him and nodded her head towards her and Annabeth, gesturing him to come over. And damn was he a great actor.

Will raced over with a feigned but convincing look of panic. It was enough to convince Annabeth that what he was about to say was true. "Guys, Percy's missing."


	6. Chapter 6

**Operation Percabeth: Chapter 6**

It was hard for Sally to comprehend that her son was only two months away from turning 16. He'd grown up so much over the past 4 years, not just physically but emotionally too. His personality may be more or less the same as it was when he was 12, but she knew that her son had seen and endured some terrible things.

Now, Sally Jackson had never been the type of person to beat around the bush. That was, unless she found it necessary to do so. For example, the fact that she never told her son Percy that he was a demigod until he was 12 and being framed for a crime he didn't commit. If there was a way for her to make her son happy, she'd do it in a heartbeat. So when she got the call (Iris Message) from Percy's friends saying that they wanted her to investigate her son's relationship with Annabeth, she waited for him to settle in then started firing questions. Percy had been home since yesterday afternoon, so Sally came to the decision that now would be a good time to start her task.

It was dinner time so they were sitting at the dinner table in the kitchen eating spaghetti. Sally watched her son carefully as he wolfed down the food in front of him. Percy glanced up for a moment in between bites and saw that she was starting at him. He paused and placed his fork down on his plate, resting his hands in his lap. He leaned back in his chair and grabbed his can of cherry coca cola, looking his mother in the eye with a questioning expression.

"Mom? Is there something wrong?" He asked taking a sip of his drink.

Sally leaned forward and looked at him with gleaming eyes. "Tell me Perseus, when exactly did you realize you were in love with Annabeth?"

Percy choked on his drink and went into a coughing fit. He stared at his mom in shock and surprise. "What? I don't know what you're talking about," he denied once he gained his composure. "Annabeth and I are just really good _platonic_ friends," he stated as if he'd rehearsed it.

She raised her eyebrow at him, not believing a word he was saying. "Percy, sweetie, I'm your mother. I'm pretty confident in the fact that I'd be able to tell when my son falls in love with someone."

"Well I'm not so that's that. End of discussion," he said with a matter-of-fact tone to his voice. Percy twirled his fork around in his spaghetti and continued eating. Clearly he felt uncomfortable talking about her which only raised Sally's suspicions.

"If you say so," she trailed off. "Oh by the way, I had an interesting conversation with your doctor, Will Solace and Grover yesterday morning," she mentioned casually. Sally decided not to mention Katie because of tactical reasons. Will and Grover have an excuse to call. Will because of Percy's injury and Grover because he's his best friend. If she was going to lie about the real reason they called she needed to take Katie out of the picture because he might become suspicious.

Percy stopped eating once again and looked up at his mother in slight panic. He tried to play it off as curiosity. "Really? What did they say?" he asked with fake nonchalance.

She shrugged her shoulders. "They just called to inform me about your injury after they found out you were coming home for a few days. Will talked to me about the extent of your injury, then left me alone to speak with Grover," she paused for the purpose of suspense. Percy leaned forward."

"And what did he say?"

Sally smiled deviously. "Oh nothing much. He just told me that you threw your sword at a hellhound to save Annabeth, leaving yourself completely defenseless and almost getting yourself killed in the process," she quipped looking her son in the eye.

He sighed in what sounded like relief. "Oh that! Yea, yea," Percy dismissed like it was no big deal. He took another bite of his dinner.

She studied her son's demeanor. "Percy is there something else he should've told me?" Sally inquired with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Why does this keep coming up this week?" He grumbled to himself quietly. Sally looked at him confused. Percy glanced up at his mother and let out a long deep breath. "Alright, so you remember last summer when I blew up Mount St. Helens right?"

He received a look from his mom that read 'are you serious'. Sally scoffed in disbelief. "As if I could forget," she spoke sarcastically smiling slightly.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Anyway," he continued. "I told you the basics of the story but, I left out some important details. You know how I told you that Annabeth was heading to Hephaestus's Forge? Well before that, she was actually with me in the volcano. It was clear that neither of us would make it out of there alive unless some drastic measures were taken, so that's what I did. I knew that I needed to get Annabeth out of there to keep her safe so I told her that I had a plan, and that she should go back to Hephaestus's Forge and tell him about the telekhines. At first she refused but she eventually gave in and left. But before she did, Annabeth kind of kissed me…"

Sally's jaw dropped open in shock. "Oh my." This must've been the reason things were weird between them last summer when they both visited her when Percy reappeared after his 2 week vacation to who knows where.

"Annabeth and I never talked about it, we just acted like it never happened. Until three days ago we were the only ones who knew about it but Grover found out somehow and now you know, so that makes four people."

It was quiet for a moment then Sally broke the silence. "Percy, can you tell me exactly what you were thinking those 2 times you saved Annabeth's life, with no regard to your own safety?"

Percy picked at his food, contemplating his answer. "Nothing. I wasn't really thinking I guess, it was just kinda instinctive.

Both of them had finished their dinner at that point so Sally picked up their plates and put them in the sink. It was obvious that the conversation wasn't over so Percy stayed in his seat nursing his coke. Sally proceeded to rinse off the dishes and put the leftovers in a container in the fridge. When she finished, she turned around to look at her son and leaned her back against the sink, crossing her arms across her chest. They made eye contact before Sally started speaking.

"So you claim that you don't love her, yet you're constantly risking your life to keep her safe. Why do you suppose that, in an instant, without even thinking about it, you threw your sword to at a hellhound, leaving yourself completely defenseless, to save her life? Do you think that just happened Percy? I believe that you couldn't stand the thought of losing her. You just couldn't. Why would you risk your own life to save Annabeth if you didn't love her?"

He shifted around in his uncomfortably. "Because she's my best friend, and to be fair my fatal flaw is personal loyalty so I'd do the same thing for a lot of people."

"Though that may be true, you said so yourself that it was instinct for you to protect her. It's not like that for anyone else. All of your instincts Percy, all of them tell me that you love her. More than you care to admit," Sally said. "But what I want to know, is why you keep denying what you feel for Annabeth, and why you won't pursue things with her."

Percy scoffed. "Mom, I could write a book filled with reasons why I shouldn't pursue things with Annabeth Chase."

Sally looked at him challengingly. "Oh really? Give me one good reason."

"Well, I'm about to fight the Titan lord of time Kronos in a few months. I know you don't want to hear this mom but there is a chance I might die doing this. I don't want to pursue things with Annabeth just to die 2 months later. I can't in good conscience to put her through that," Percy explained. He stood up from his chair and walked into the living room.

His mother trailed behind him. "First off, I'm still in deep denial that the war is only 2 months away. Second of all, have you ever heard the phrase that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?" she countered sitting next to Percy on the couch. "I'm going to need a better reason than that."

He leaned forward and picked up the remote to the TV. Percy turned it on and lowered the volume for background noise. Then he turned to face his mother. "I can't be selfish, mom. When I was 13 on Mount Olympus after the Winter Solstice meeting, Annabeth's mom Athena came up to me and told me something very important. She told me that in order for me to save a friend, I'd sacrifice the world. I had always thought that she was slightly exaggerating my fatal flaw, but last summer I blew up a volcano to save one person. To save Annabeth. If we got involved with each other, and the choice came up again, I'd end up doing something even more drastic. With the future of the human race in my hands, I just can't risk it. It would be _really_ selfish of me to destroy the world, in order to keep one person alive," Percy explained to his mom.

"But Percy you already blew up the volcano," She replied shaking her head slightly. "And I know that you'd do it again to protect Annabeth, because you love her. Even if you aren't in a relationship with her, that won't change," Percy tilted his head to the side in confusion. Sally tried her best to simplify her point. "What I'm trying to say is, it's too late. You'd sacrifice the world to save her right this minute if you had too."

Percy rubbed his palms against his face and groaned, leaning back into the sofa. "Oh gods we're all gonna die!" He looked at his mom in panic. "I'm in too deep. I can't turn back now! What in the name of Hades am I supposed to do? Mom! I can't tell Annabeth that I love her. I didn't realize that what I've felt for her the past 3 years was love. You know, maybe this is why she calls me Seaweed Brain," he babbled straying of topic.

Sally chuckled in amusement. "Oh Perseus, it's about time you admitted it,"

He looked at his mom, playing with the hem of his shirt. Percy's vibrant green eyes showed vulnerability. "I can't believe I'm about to ask this," He mumbled. "But mom, what should I do?"

Sally smiled and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Oh sweetie I think the answer is pretty obvious. You need to tell Annabeth how you feel, and stop running from your problems. Grover told me that you and Annabeth had a- Wait he never told me what happened between you two, he just said that there was an incident in the infirmary."

Percy's cheeks flushed pink. "Oh it was nothing," he dismissed, his voice raising an octave.

She raised an eyebrow quizzically at him. "Do I want to know what happened?" Percy shook his head no so Sally left the topic alone.

"As much as I've enjoyed my stay here mom, I think I'm going to head back to camp tomorrow. My side is basically healed and Chiron wants Beckendorf and I to start planning a mission to Luke, I mean Kronos's, boat the Princess Andromeda."

Sally stared at Percy. "And…" she gestured for him to continue.

He sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I guess I'll tell Annabeth how I feel," he trailed off looking at his hands that rested in his lap. Sally smiled and hugged her son tightly. Mission accomplished.


End file.
